


Dans le royaume des airs, tu es mon Roi.

by fassenheimr (svartalfheimr)



Series: aerial view: attrape-moi si tu peux [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, M/M, Pre-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Rhodey Is a Good Bro, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Sweet Vision (Marvel), Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony is emotionally constipated, Tony-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 21:44:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8684482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svartalfheimr/pseuds/fassenheimr
Summary: Sam goes on a flight test with Tony's newest creation: Redwing. The more Tony looks at the Falcon in the air, the more he loses his heart to him.An IronFalcon soulmate AU, in which Tony knew all along that Sam was his soulmate, but Sam didn't.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to my work “Dans le royaume des airs, nous sommes des Dieux.”
> 
> It can be read as a stand alone, although the end directly refers to it.
> 
> All you need to know is: in this AU, the majority of people have each other's first words, some don't, and some are Blank. Sometimes, even if one of the mates is Marked by his mate's first words, they might not Mark the other with their first words, but those they will say whenever they are ready to bond. So.. If the soulmates meet when one is too young, the younger mate will have the older's first words, but the older will have the words of their younger mate when they are ready to bond. Sometimes, one of the mates can deny the relationship, and so the other will have their Mark said whenever/if they are ready.
> 
> Unbeta'd. Also, English is not my primary language ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

“C'mon, buddy! Let's catch Vizh!”

 

There was so much glee in Wilson's voice that Tony didn't need to see him to know he was smiling. He could hear him through the War Machine's comm-link, and the man was probably yelling considering Tony could register his voice fine when he wasn't even connected with the Falcon.

 

Rhodey was sighing on their private line.

 

“He's going to talk about it for _months_.”

 

“It's _him_ not _it_ , and that's the jealousy talking. You wish you had the same.”

 

“Damn right.”

 

After all, his latest baby was kinda awesome. Tony made it his duty to constantly upgrade the Avengers' equipment, from Steve's boots to the Black Widow's bite — and all of them had some form of StarkTech in their gear.

 

When he saw Wilson's EXO-7 for the first time, he knew exactly what was the first thing to do: make it lighter. The man might've been discreet about it, but Tony noticed him a few times grunting whenever he stretched his back after a long mission. (Not that he was truly looking at him.)

 

Carbon fiber had definitely been a must. But of all the upgrades he did to the Falcon's gear, the latest was his favorite. Redwing was, in a way, the God of UAVs, a drone pilot's wet dream. Sure, he could be used as a weapon, but that wasn't what made him well, _him_. Redwing had all the good stuff — a 360 degrees scanner vision, all the automated flight features one could expect, and all his tactical data during combat were directly fed to Wilson's goggles — and something that made him more: Redwing's AI was evolutive. Nothing as advanced as J had been, because, well, _Ultron_ , but his memory and mimicry made him definitely more than the Hammer's drones sold to the military. (He knew he was being childish, but he was definitely looking for Hammer to gape at his baby.)

 

Tony already knew what to expect of this; in Wilson's hand, the drone would prioritize civilians' safety over enemy combatants, which, in retrospect, was a very good thing. What he didn't expect was for the Falcon to actually want to _play_ with him.

 

“You can do it! I know you can!”

 

Wilson came in sight, his trail hot behind Vision, who seemed to humor him. Redwing flew behind the Falcon, probably running calculations on the best way to catch the synthezoid. Tony saw War Machine in his peripheral vision landing beside him and glanced at his tablet where Redwing's user interface was. He heard Rhodey's faceplate open more than saw it.

 

“If you keep giving him stuff like that, I'm gonna get jealous, just so you know.”

 

Tony snorted and grumbled at him with no real heat, still looking at the data.

 

“I knew you only liked me for my money.”

 

He felt Rhodes' gauntlet on his shoulder and heard his warm laugh.

 

“Nu-uh. I'm not here for the money, my friend, I'm here for your brains.”

 

He snorted again.

 

“Not so shallow then.”

 

He looked up at the sky and saw the exact moment Redwing found the best trajectory to adopt — he didn't need to look at his tablet to know that Wilson received the data.

 

Redwing started flying in circles around Wilson while the man retracted his wings and dived in free fall at Vision, who looked almost surprised and a little anxious to see the Falcon in such a dangerous state. When he started opening his arms, Wilson grinned and let himself pivoting, his wings gracefully opening and lunged his feet at Vision who dodged the kick — and pushed his back on Redwing, who had surprised him when he was too focused on Wilson. The drone was doing barrel rolls while making loops around Vision, while the Falcon kept flying around them and laughing like a mad man. Vision started smiling a bit, and from what Tony could see, it made Redwing and Wilson even more gleeful.

 

At this instant, Tony felt grateful to whoever was watching over him and blessed to be able to witness it.

 

“Wilson looks like a kid who discovered the secret formula to never get caught stealing from the cookie jar.”

 

Tony felt himself grin at Rhodey's words but kept his focus on the Falcon (though even if he tried, he wasn't sure he would be able to look away from the man). He never saw him happy — well he did see him laugh at Clint's jokes or even smile at Steve's goofiness, but Tony was pretty sure he never saw the man this happy. If he had been a romantic at heart, he would've described Wilson right this instant as the closest thing he could see to heaven — the man seemed to glow. At this instant, Tony realized he had never seen anything like this; despite all he's done in his life, Tony Stark had never seen something as pure before. Sam Wilson was flying in the sky, his grin so big it probably hurt, looking as happy as one could get and the sight sent calming waves to him.

 

Tony had never felt this peaceful in his life. It's like something had clicked, right at this instant, something inside him that he never realized had been malfunctioning, and now he couldn't even fathom why he had even rejected the idea in the first place.

 

From the ground of the New Avengers Facility, Tony looked at Sam Wilson in the air and forgot what he had been doing in the first place; nothing made sense except the fact that Tony could see this for the rest of his days and be happy with it.

 

“Well, I know Vision is incredible, but I'm sure you'll grow bored one day or another, Tones.”

 

He startled, realizing he said his last thought out-loud and Rhodey responded to it, but decided to shrug, feigning nonchalance, and despite the fact that everything in him told him not to, he glanced backward at his tablet again and started digging through the data, losing the trail of the Falcon's flight.

 

“I know this look. That's the look you get when you want something you can't have.”

 

Tony didn't know if he felt grateful that Rhodey didn't realize he had been staring at Wilson. He huffed, and rolled his eyes, then instantly froze when he realized Vision was coming over their way. He knew this was the only warning he would get before Wilson come back on the ground. He tried to find the best way to flee without looking like he was avoiding the synthezoid.

 

In the end, it was Rhodey who stopped him from moving.

 

“Tony and I were actually talking about you.”

 

Vision smiled warmly.

 

“Were you, Colonel?”

 

Tony felt frozen on the spot. He was probably grimacing. Rhodey laughed and patted Tony on the back.

 

“Yeah. Said it was nice of you to help Tony with the testings.”

 

Vision frowned, not understanding his tone of voice, and slowly shrugged (a gesture he was still trying to adopt.)

 

“My pleasure. I was actually glad to spend the afternoon with the Falcon.” He looked up at Wilson, and then back at Tony, “Have you gotten everything you needed?”

 

For an (excruciatingly) long moment, Tony just stared at Vision and forgot how to talk (a first in his whole life). When he saw the other man tilting his head on the side, he nodded and smiled blandly. Vision didn't seem to notice his unease, or if he did, he didn't let it show. Tony looked at the side, seeing Wilson coming back on the ground and saw him talking to Redwing, who kept flying in circles around him. He felt some ache in his chest and actually had to remind himself that he did not have the reactor anymore. Wilson was walking over them, still talking to the drone, and Tony could not, for the life of him, move.

 

“—think I'm gonna keep you forever, buddy. You're just too awesome. You and I are gonna do great things! Oh hey, Stark! Didn't think you'd still be here,” Wilson's face fell, “Oh. You're not... Taking him, are you?”

 

Rhodey snorted and Tony shook his head. Before he could answer, Rhodey did. (Thank God for Rhodey.)

 

“Depends on if you've been on Santa's Naughty list, Wilson.”

 

Tony started busying himself with his tablet (anything that could stop him from staring at Wilson). Which he was supposed to do, anyway. So it wasn't as if he had been acting weird or anything. Redwing made a last loop around the Falcon and then stored himself in the compartment Tony made for him at the back of Wilson's wings. He looked at Wilson's hopeful look and didn't have the courage to stop himself.

 

“His name is Redwing. He's yours if you want him.”

 

Tony's heartbeats seemed so loud he truly thought Wilson could have heard them. The other man gave him a smile that was so bright it could put Captain America to shame and then proceeded to look at Redwing.

 

“Thank you, Stark. Really. He's... He's incredible.”

 

When Wilson looked back at him, Tony could've died. He felt afraid and reassured at the same time: the other man was actually staring at him with happiness, but Tony was sure it had everything to do with Redwing and nothing with what Tony said to him.

 

Apparently, these weren't Sam's Mark. Tony still wasn't ready.

 

He felt an ache in his back where Sam's words laid, knowing all too well that this particular ache meant he was going to close himself in the workshop for some time. Something in him stirred, and if Tony had not been so stubborn he might've seen him for what it truly was (hope) and acted on it.

 

Wilson looked behind him. His grin grew and his eyes gleamed. Tony's heart sank, knowing already who was behind him.

 

“So, did you have fun?”

 

Anger bubbled in him but Tony was an expert at swallowing his emotions. After all, he knew this was pointless and extremely unhelpful. He had no right to be angry at Steve — Steve was his friend. He smiled cheekily at Steve and tried to take his cue to leave at that instant, but the good captain seemed to want to talk with all of them, and so clapped a hand on Tony's arm. Wilson looked like he could barely stop himself from giggling.

 

“His name is Redwing and he is perfect! You should've seen us!”

 

Steve huffed and shook his head at Tony.

 

“You spoil us too much.”

 

Before Tony could reply, Sam put his arms on his shoulder and looked at him in a way he never did before. His heartbeats sped up.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Tony stared at him. He wanted to flee. He wanted to tell Sam. He didn't know what to do.

 

Rhodey and Vision walked away discussing something his mind couldn't understand because all he was thinking about at the moment was how Sam's hands made him feel awful and happy, and afraid and—

 

Sam took his hands away, and Tony's heart with them. He nodded at him and started walking away, saying something about taking a shower or something. Tony took a paper from his pocket, put it on his tablet and wrote the time and date. When he heard the surprised gasp from Steve he raised an eyebrow at the other man.

 

“I never saw you writing before.”

 

When he realized Steve was staring at his note, Tony snatched it away and put it back in his pocket. Cap was looking at him as if he was looking through his memories, and when it hit him when Steve knew where he had seen this writing before, Tony walked away quickly. He felt the other man's hand on his arm and sneered.

 

“Don't. You. Say. A. Thing.”

 

He didn't care about Cap's hurt look.

 

That week, he had spent three days in his workshop refusing access to everyone.

 

Months later, in Siberia, staring at Cap's shield on his knees, he realized he has never seen Sam so happy after that day.

 

On his flight back after _that_ night in Wakanda, all Tony could think of was that sunny afternoon where his soulmate had been laughing in the air and realized Sam might not have been the only one to be happy that day.

 

 

 


End file.
